Plowable: Accumulating snow for northwest Minnesota
A few inches of slush up north. A few flakes for Twin Cities.
April’s other, colder weather shoe has arrived.
The first eight days of April brought temperatures more than 10 degrees warmer than average to Minnesota. Our early flower blooms give way to slushy snowfall in northwest Minnesota, with a few flakes possible in the Twin Cities Tuesday.
Cold enough for snow
Our swirling low-pressure system is cold enough for snow across the Red River Valley and northwest Minnesota.
NOAA’s GFS model captures the system wobbling up north, as rain changes to snow. The heaviest snowfall favors northwest Minnesota early Tuesday morning.
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Plowable slush
A few inches of slush will fall across the Red River Valley and northwest Minnesota. The heaviest totals over 6 inches favor North Dakota, but some locations in northwest Minnesota like Hallock, Roseau, Warroad and Baudette could see 3 to 6 inches of slush on the ground Tuesday.
A more general area of 1 to 3 inches looks likely for much of northwest Minnesota including Moorhead, Bemidji, Brainerd, Alexandria and Detroit Lakes. Here’s the Canadian model snowfall output.
A few flakes may fly as far south as the Twin Cities Tuesday, but little if any accumulation is expected.
Chilly week ahead
Our mid-April air mass brings frost and freezing temperatures along with the snow. Overnight lows will approach the freezing mark in southern Minnesota including the Twin Cities Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Lows dip into the 20s up north.
Highs Tuesday will struggle to reach 40 degrees across southern Minnesota.
The cold air gradually eases this week. Highs will reach the 50s again Thursday through the weekend in the south, with 40s up north.
The average high and low this weekend for the Twin Cities are 59 and 38.